Taking advantage of Colfax’s miscues in the fifth inning, the Fighting Zebra varsity baseball team rolled to 6-1 win over the Falcons in Colfax.

“That’s what we’ve been doing all year, capitalizing on mistakes and we want to put ourselves in a position to be able to do that,” said Lincoln Head Coach Jon O’Connor. “Passed balls, balls in the dirt that the catcher couldn’t corral and we scored.”

Through the first four innings, Colfax’s Ray Henry and Lincoln’s Craig Schmich made it a pitcher’s duel with the lone run coming off Jordan Erickson’s double in the top half of the first inning.

“We knew coming in that Henry, (is) one of the best guys in the league,” said O’Connor. “He throws those off speed pitches and does a good job with balance.”

Despite struggles with his command, Falcons head coach Lyell Marks liked how his started pitcher performed.

“He didn’t have his best stuff today, but he competed and kept us in the ball game,” said Marks about Henry.

But fatigue began to show in Henry’s arm in the top of the fifth.

Following three straight singles to load the bases, Henry’s pitches became wild and led to three Lincoln runs. By inning’s end it was 4-0 Zebras.

Isaiah Garcia added a two-run double in the sixth and Schmich and company kept the clamps on the Falcons offense for the remainder of the game to give the Zebras a 6-1 victory.

The Zebras play Colfax again tomorrow at Lincoln High School and are one win away from the PVL title.

“(Colfax) is in third place, they’re very good,” said Lincoln’s Isaiah Garcia. “So we just have to come out and compete the best we can. They’ve got a good pitcher throwing, so it’ll be exciting.”

Garcia reference is to Jake Miller who will take the mound Thursday.

Coach Marks expects to see more intensity, focus and pride from his team.

“The fact is we’re on our way to the playoffs and those are the type of programs we’re going to face in the playoffs,” said Marks regarding Lincoln’s team. “We can’t be intimidated by anyone, it doesn’t matter who it is. We can’t be intimidated by them.”